A 67-YEAR-OLD woman has been told to remove her pop-up gazebo from a communal garden or risk being evicted from her home.

Joan Bourne, who lives in a Bournemouth Housing Society for the Elderly (BHSE) flat in Southbourne, bought the gazebo so she and several other tenants could enjoy the garden during the recent hot weather.

She is one of just two tenants who have direct access to the communal garden and she placed the gazebo immediately outside her back door.

But the BHSE said it received complaints from other residents and it has now warned Mrs Bourne to remove both the gazebo and two garden storage boxes. They have passed the matter on to solicitors with a view to drawing up a Notice of Intention to Seek Possession.

Mrs Bourne said: “When it was hot, we were using parasols to shelter from the sun.

“I thought it would be easier just to invest in a cheap gazebo so we could still enjoy a cuppa and a chat outside.

“There were four or five of us that met under it regularly. It doesn’t affect anybody else using the garden.”

Three other residents who helped buy the gazebo also received letters saying it had to be removed. Marjorie Lonnen said: “I just couldn’t believe it. It is right at the end of the garden, it is not in anybody’s way.”

Steve Hayes, BHSE chief executive, said Mrs Bourne was in breach of her tenancy conditions by not removing all the items from the communal gardens.

“We have received a number of complaints from residents in connection with Mrs Bourne’s additions to the communal gardens and making allegations as to Mrs Bourne’s attitude to some residents’ use of the communal facilities,” he said.

“As a landlord we always need to be mindful that our actions should be both reasonable and proportionate. Mrs Bourne is aware that this matter is now in the hands of our solicitors who are highly experienced in this area of work.

“I am awaiting their opinion as to what if any legal and or other action we should consider taking over this.

“However if Mrs Bourne was to comply with the tenancy conditions and remove the items and give an undertaking not to put them back then the situation should resolve itself’.